Join us for this free event on Friday, November 9, 7:30-9 am, at The Tribute At The Colony. The 2018 Legislative Breakfast will feature Texas U.S. Representative Dr. Micheal Burgess, local State House and Senate Representatives, along with the County Commissioner, Mayor and City Manager of the Colony.

The Colony ranked among the Top 5 Healthiest Housing Markets in Texas, and placed among the Top 10 Housing Marketing in the U.S., according to a new study.

Five of the 10 healthiest U.S. housing markets are in North Texas, and all of Texas’ top home markets are also in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to the report by SmartAsset.com.

The New York-based personal finance technology firm measured home housing markets across the country for factors including homeowner equity, the number of years owners stay in a property, the average time to sell a house and affordability.

http://thecolonyedc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/HealthyRealEstateMarket.jpg350900The Colonyhttp://thecolonyedc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/TheColonyBlackLogo.pngThe Colony2016-10-17 21:30:302016-10-21 21:34:46The Colony Tops the List of Healthiest Housing Markets in the U.S.

Later this year, The Colony — of all places — will welcome arguably the most ambitious music venue opening in North Texas. Lava Cantina, a 28,000-square-foot restaurant and live music depot, will become the brightest star in the promising Grandscape development. If all goes according to plan, The Colony could soon become a new concert destination — and if so, it’ll happen with the help of longtime Coach Joe’s Hat Tricks owner Tony Avezzano.

The new venue will share acreage with the gargantuan Nebraska Furniture Mart and the latest theme bar from none other than noted casino rockers KISS, among dozens of other restaurants and retail and entertainment options. The centerpiece of the sprawling venue, which will be larger than the original Lava Cantina in Baton Rouge, will be a 1,800-person-capacity concert area. Its size will make Lava Cantina an immediate competitor with many of Dallas’ most beloved venues.

Rock N Concepts, the company responsible for Lava Cantina, is helmed by former Cane’s Chicken COO Ian Vaughn. The Louisiana-raised Vaughn, though a lifelong music lover, is a newcomer to the business side of the North Texas music scene. That makes his hiring of Tony Avezzano to handle talent booking a well-advised move. Avezzano recently sold Hat Tricks, where he oversaw a rather eclectic concert schedule in Lewisville for the past decade, in order to move on to bigger things. Not only does Avezzano have a successful track record when it comes to the crowded live music market, but he knows full well what it takes to pack a room for a wide range of shows at a venue that’s off the beaten, Dallas-proper path.

More than ever, it seems that Dallas might be approaching a saturation point for major new music venues. With the openings of The Bomb Factory and Gas Monkey Live! in the past 16 months, it’s tough to imagine another venue joining in and flourishing without negatively affecting the quality of what’s going on at other venues. Those most at risk include the Granada Theater, House of Blues and slightly smaller spots such as Trees, Dada and The Kessler Theater. But what about the music-loving suburbs north of the insular Dallas bubble south of 635? The Ikea-flavored landscape is a blank canvas for enterprising minds looking to claim some lucrative entertainment territory.

“There’s room for Lava Cantina in the Dallas area because of where it’s located,” Avezzano says. “I think many people out this way in Carrollton, Plano, The Colony, Frisco, Plano, Allen and McKinney are ready for a great venue that’s north of 635 they can go to without having to worry so much about the drive home. That’s not a shot at Deep Ellum or downtown, but it’s just a matter of what will work best for music fans living closer to this area.”

As the construction and planning for Lava Cantina moves ahead, Avezzano will continue to handle music booking for Hat Tricks, and is also beginning to book shows for Stroker’s Ice House, the adored biker bar in Dallas. At this time, Lava Cantina will look to feature between 20 and 30 large ticketed shows from national touring artists, along with many more nights featuring live music on a smaller indoor stage with a 500-person capacity. Avezzano is confident the region can support another venue of its size, but he knows the competition is beyond stiff.

Vaughn throws down some population-focused logic when explaining why he sees the North Texas music scene as a more open equation than some might think. “There are 6.5 million people in this area,” he says. “I know that places like The Bomb Factory and the Granada offer people an experience that’s unique to their establishment, and I’m a big fan of those places personally, but that’s a lot of people we can all go after. I am sure Lava Cantina will provide a really unique experience that can’t be had anywhere else also, so enough of that 6.5 million will want to come to us.”

With a projected opening of late October or early November, Vaughn, Avezzano and other key members of the opening team including former Sundown at Granada chef Patrick Stark, who will handle the restaurant’s Creole/Mexican fusion menu, don’t have time to worry about much beyond making their presence known as soon as possible. According to Vaughn, who admits to having an “obsession with going to concerts,” as well as being a metalhead who would book German metal giants Rammstein for the grand opening if he could, there will be many features aside from a great location that will lure patrons north.

“Our main concert area will be outdoors, but have a retractable roof so that it will remain comfortable in different types of weather,” he says. “Also, that space will be a multi-level area where no one will be more than 100 feet from the stage so that it’s large but still intimate.”

The second stage inside will likely host a regular schedule of local acts, school of rock showcases, jazz brunches and even some celebrity chef demos. Such entertainment diversity will be a big part of the identity Vaughn hopes to galvanize as Lava Cantina goes from shiny newcomer to established veteran.

“Being first to market gives us an advantage,” Vaughn says. “We can create our own brand and build a unique message. We will be one of the Dallas area’s premium destinations for live music.”

Old American Golf Club – the Tripp Davis and Justin Leonard design located along the scenic shores of Lake Lewisville – achieved the “Residential: Next 100” honor from Golfweek Magazine in its annual listing of residential courses.

The ranking, which is featured in Golfweek’s Ultimate Guide to Golf Course Living and Great Escapes, 2016, places Old American among the top 200 residential courses in the U.S. The golf club, which pays homage to the “Golden Age” of golf course architecture (1911-1937), joins other prestigious residential courses in the “Residential: Next 100” rankings such as fellow Metroplex layouts The Vaquero Club and TPC Craig Ranch, Big Horn in Palm Desert, Calif., and Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The residential rankings originate from Golfweek’s annual compilation of America’s Best Courses, published since 1997. Raters throughout the country evaluate courses on the basis of 10 criteria, providing a final score calculated through a statistically rigorous process.

“It’s truly an honor to be recognized once again as one of the top residential courses in the country by Golfweek,” says Mike McCabe, General Manager at Old American Golf Club. “Our members and staff take great pride in the golf course, and The Tribute Lakeside Golf and Resort Community – with its superb home sites and family-friendly amenities – make our area one of the country’s best places to live and play.”

The golf club offers unique residential golf memberships, including a complimentary 30-day trial for new homeowners. Authentic rustic elements are prevalent throughout the golf club – such as a railroad bridge on the outward nine and a former dairy barn that serves as cart storage. Behind the barn sits an organic garden, which has inspired a leading edge culinary program and farm-to-table menu. Plots inside the garden are available to residents interested in growing their own crops.

The Fairfield Inn and Suites and the Residence Inn Dallas Plano/The Colony invite guests of the hotels to jump on a bike and take a ride around the neighborhood. The hotel campus offers a fleet of Trek 7.4FX Hybrid 21-speed bicycles available for rent and is the latest addition to a list of amenities for hotel guests to make the most of their free time. The two hotels adjoin the Cascades Events Center and the new Courtyard by Marriott Dallas Plano/The Colony, opening in Spring 2016. All properties are managed by Crescent Hotels & Resorts, which operates over 100 hotels in the U.S. and Canada, and developed by Jackson-Shaw, a national real estate development company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

“Our vision is to have a robust bike rental program for our guests with at least 20 bicycles at 3 stations throughout the Cascades campus, including the Courtyard by Marriott which is under development and slated to open in 2016,” said Mike Cicutto, General Manager. “This program is the latest initiative designed to enhance our existing hotel guest amenities and provide an affordable exercise and site seeing alternative.”

The hotel properties are the only hotels in the area to offer a rental bikes program available year round. The bicycles offer the perfect opportunity to explore the area or get in some cardio-vascular exercise while away from home. All equipment is maintained by a professional mechanic, ensuring both comfort and safety for all riders.

There are miles of biking paths through the community, including several routes to explore the scenic areas of The Colony, nicknamed the “Loop.”

Bicycles may be rented at the front desk of the hotel for $5 for up to 2 hours. A Helmet, lock, bottled water and a route map are included with each rental.

The University of Dallas’ Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business will begin offering master of business administration (MBA) courses at the Cascades Event Center in The Colony starting with the fall 2015 term. The program expansion comes as several multi-billion-dollar companies relocate thousands of jobs to the Plano area with additional corporate relocations expected because of the favorable business climate in Texas.

The college will launch its 30-credit-hour MBA program in The Colony with two evening courses and terms that are 12 weeks long, offered in fall, spring and summer.

The Colony MBA program is identical to the AACSB-accredited program offered on the college’s Irving campus. It aims to provide students with the core leadership, managerial and other skills necessary to excel in a corporate environment. A hallmark of the University of Dallas MBA program is the culminating “Capstone Experience” in which students work in the field with an actual business client to address a strategic or operational issue in the client’s company, entrepreneurial venture or nonprofit organization.

The Cascades Event Center is at 5909 Stone Creek Drive, south of State Highway 121 and west of Legacy Drive. For more information, including details of an upcoming open house, visit udallas.edu/thecolony.

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In the southeast corner of Denton County, around Lewisville, The Colony, and Carrollton, real estate broker Christy Thompson has, “A list of buyers who are just waiting, and waiting, and waiting.”

She says realty in that area comes with a rough reality for buyers: “It’s going to be tough, and if you find a house for sale, we have to go look at it today. There is no more going to look on the weekends. You can’t do that.”

In this small enclave in May, an average of 16 homes were purchased every day. The blistering pace of sales is twice as fast as the increase in the sales rate in the rest of North Texas. Why?

Location, location, location.

The area is close to big new employers, like Nebraska Furniture Mart, the planned Toyota headquarters, a new Fed Ex office building, and new Liberty Mutual campus.

But most of the buyers Christy Thompson has dealt with aren’t going to work for any of those big businesses.

“What I am seeing is a lot of investors,” she said. “A lot of investors buying up the houses, paying cash.”

Investors know the market here will likely only get hotter as workers do start to move in.

Stephen Richter is relocating to this area and has seen almost 50 properties in 20 days.

“To try to find a place that is decent to move to, it has been hell,” he said.

Richter has made offers on three homes, only to be locked out each time by other buyers upping the ante.

“It sells in a day, so if you are not there first thing in the morning, by noon you are probably too late,” he said. “By the next day, you are definitely too late.”

Melinda Gibson is getting out at a good time.

“I sold the house and I have to be out in like 15 days,” she said.

Her buyer beat other offers, paid in cash, and didn’t even have the property appraised, as far as she knows. She said the best part is, she’s not trying to move to another place nearby — she wouldn’t be able to afford to stay in the area.

Christy Thompson said that sentiment is shared by many. She said other potential sellers are holding off putting their homes on the market because they don’t think they can afford to buy another property nearby. That may be contributing to extremely low inventory.

There is currently less than a two month supply of homes for sale in southeast Denton County. Three months is considered a “healthy” amount of inventory, Thompson said.

May housing numbers for North Texas have been released by the MetroTex Association of REALTORS.

Rochelle Mortensen with the group said Monday in a press release that single family home sales reached 9,484 last month, up six percent from 2014 and marking a record high. The average home price was $271, 676 — nearly $7,000 higher than April and an 8 percent increase from last year.

More than 35,212 homes were sold in May, and nearly 40 percent cost between $200,000 and $400,000.

The group also release a top 10 list of the hottest markets in North Texas:

Grand Prairie

South Fort Worth (Everman and Forest Hill)

Southeast Arlington

The Colony

Richardson

Watauga

Mesquite

Fort Worth (Summerfield and Park Glen)

Anna ISD area

Grapevine

Mortensen says Southeast Denton County had the highest volume of sales, beating other areas by 25 percent or more.

The Colony is being honored with a 2015 Playful City USA designation for the 5th consecutive year. In partnership with the Humana Foundation, KaBOOM! is honoring cities, towns and counties across the country for making their communities more playable. In 2015, a total of 241 communities have been recognized as part of Playful City USA program. The Colony is one of only 19 communities in Texas chosen for recognition.

Hopscotch sidewalks, structured recess programs, mandated neighborhood play spaces, city-wide play days and mobile recreation vehicles are all ways in which these communities are appealing to residents, and attracting and retaining residents.

“Playability is crucial to the success of our future communities, and we are proud of the work these cities and leaders are doing to provide a better quality of life for all residents, and especially families,” says KaBOOM! President, James Siegal. “Play provides a competitive advantage for cities looking to attract and retain residents. With these esteemed leaders, and our friends and partners across the country, we continue to prioritize play for all kids.”

To learn more about these cities, see the full list of the 241 communities named 2015 Playful City USA honorees, or to gather more information on the Playful City USA program, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.

Take a drive around The Colony and you’ll find exciting progress everywhere you go. A photo “journey” around town yesterday offered a glimpse of our exciting retail and restaurant projects recently completed or underway.

Nebraska Furniture Mart and the Grandscape Development have officially opened. Business is booming at TopGolf, and other additions include Rooms to Go and the new Marriott Courtyard under construction.

High quality master planned communities like the Cascades and Austin Ranch are answering the demand for commercial and residential space with new phases. We particularly enjoyed seeing The Boat House at Austin Ranch with the cool swimming pool overlooking a large lake. (The teenager riding along even said he’d like to live there!)

Our journey ended at The Tribute, where we were reminded once again of the many reasons The Colony was named one of the Top 20 Best Places to Live in the U.S. by CNN/Money Magazine as we viewed the trails lined with wild flowers, full lakes and ponds, and the top-rated Prestwick STEM Academy.

We hope you’ll enjoy these photos as much as we enjoyed taking each one!

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The Colony was ranked 7th in the 2015 Best Suburbs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area recently announced by niche.com. The ranking methodology takes into account key factors of a location, including school ratings, crime rates, housing, employment, community, and things to do, in an attempt to measure the overall quality of an area. Niche provides rankings and statistics for every neighborhood and city in the U.S.

Old American Golf Club announces General Manager Mike McCabe has been honored as a Titleist PGA Professional “Difference Maker,” and will appear in several marketing campaigns this month.

The Difference Maker campaign honors Titleist PGA Professionals making significant impacts at their clubs with members and guests. A 90-second video about McCabe and his noteworthy contributions is featured at Titleist.com. He also will appear in advertisements in various publications throughout the month.

Under McCabe’s leadership, the Tripp Davis-Justin Leonard design has received numerous accolades. Inspired by the “Golden Age” of golf course architecture – a period of excellence between 1911 and 1937 – Old American rose to No. 5 in Golfweek’s 2015 “State-by-State” rankings, making it the highest-rated course in the Metroplex for the fifth consecutive year.

McCabe also has overseen the development of amenities at Old American that create lasting impressions. The club boasts TOUR-caliber practice facilities and wide range of game improvement programming. Authentic rustic elements are prevalent throughout – such as a railroad bridge between the second and third holes and a former dairy barn that serves as cart storage. Behind the barn sits an organic garden, which has inspired a leading edge culinary program and farm-to-table menu.

A native of Emporia, Kan., McCabe graduated from The Golf Academy of America and was the director of golf at Tour 18 Golf Course in suburban Dallas. Prior to coming to Old American in 2011, McCabe was the director of golf at Bridlewood Golf Club in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound. In 2010, the Northern Texas PGA named him “Merchandiser of the Year.”

“The Titleist campaign spotlights PGA Professionals driven to make a difference at their club, and we’re honored that Mike received this recognition,” says Jack Matthews, President of Matthews Southwest. “His passion for the game and his expertise in providing an enjoyable and memorable golf experience are admirable qualities that have shaped him into becoming a model PGA Professional and general manager.”

The checkout area at the the Nebraska Furniture Mart is shown Jan. 14 in The Colony.

by Diane Baxter | Director of Communications and Tourism City of The Colony

Wow! Look at all the growth in The Colony. From new development to road construction, the city is flourishing. Growing pains come with all of this progress, but through knowledge, communication and patience, the result is going to be one of great pride and satisfaction for all of us.

The Grandscape development, home to the soon-to-open largest home furnishings store in the country, Nebraska Furniture Mart of Texas, is nothing short of incredible. Staff members have had the privilege of touring “the Mart” and can honestly and openly say that we personally have a shopping list of “must-haves” already in mind when those doors open. Grandscape will be a distinctive place of entertainment with a wide variety of retail, restaurants and wonderful hotels.

TopGolf has been a fantastic addition to our community that provides yet another setting for recreation, relaxation and socializing. If you haven’t had a chance to visit and enjoy the fun experienced by golfers and non-golfers alike, make it a must-do in 2015. The food is amazing as well.

The Tribute community is blooming as home sales continue to grow, and the new Prestwick STEM Academy is enthusiastically educating The Colony’s children in science, technology, engineering and math. Lewisville ISD has put some attention on existing The Colony schools with the renovation and rebuilding of Camey Elementary, and Griffin Middle School still in construction progress.

Spring will be here soon and outdoor activities that we all love will resume once again. Lewisville Lake will transform from its peaceful hibernation that local fisherman love, to a recreational oasis of swimming, boating, jet skiing, wakeboarding, sailing and whatever else “floats your boat.” It’s a great lake with terrific amenities right on shore.

Have you visited Hidden Cove Park lately? Did you know that our partners, Marine Quest, have been making remarkable improvements and additions to the park including a fun and convenient “take a break when you’re on the lake” Captain Jack’s restaurant? Gather your friends and family for a nice spring hike or bike ride on one of our fabulous shoreline trails. You’ll enjoy the fresh air and scenery as our little part of the world returns to lush greenery interspersed with lovely wildflowers.

The Chapel at Ana Villa is an enchanting venue for tying the knot with the one you love. Check them out if you are recently engaged and looking for that perfect place to exchange your vows and enjoy lasting memories. This facility provides a gorgeous backdrop for wedding photos of your special day. Within walking distance are our two comfortable Marriott hotels with a third under construction. Marriott Courtyard has an estimated opening of next January.

So make your spring plans, keep your resolutions for added fitness and family time, and come check out all the great things that are happening in The Colony! Visit us online at visitthecolonytx.com.

On Oct. 7, Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM)’s director of human resources, Megan Berry Barlow, spoke to Griffin Middle School and Lakeview Middle School AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) sixth, seventh and eighth grade students about the company and the strategies they implemented to make the company successful. In addition, The Colony City Councilman Kirk Mikulec joined Barlow to welcome the students and introduce the special guest.

In preparation for the visit from NFM, the AVID students researched the company and developed questions they wanted to ask Barlow following her presentation. They discussed their questions in class and, as a group, narrowed down the best questions to ask.

“We talked about the appropriate ways to listen and take notes during a presentation,” said Andrea Treaccar, GMS AVID teacher. “The students are excited to hear from NFM because representatives from the company have been visiting our school in the last year or so, and they are so excited to see the company when it’s finished and built [in The Colony.]”

Nebraska Furniture Mart’s Barlow spoke to the students about the history of the company, a brief overview about herself and her journey to NFM and shared facts about the successful company. During her presentation, she held mini-quizzes and asked students to participate.

AVID is a global, non-profit organization dedicated to closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college and other post-secondary opportunities. LISD provides 11 secondary campuses in The Colony High School and Lewisville High School feeder patterns with AVID programming, and seven percent of the students (more than 1,000) are enrolled in the course. This fall, the Marcus High School feeder pattern will have the opportunity to participate in the AVID program.

We’ve all heard that everything is bigger in Texas: The trucks, the steaks, the houses, and in particular, the state pride. But is the crime rate also bigger in the Lone Star State?

Here on the Movoto Real Estate blog, we decided to answer just that, and after conducting our analysis, we came up with a resounding “No.” Of course Texas itself is so big that it’s bound to have its fair share of crime; but in these 10 places, the safety is downright idyllic. Here are the 10 safest places in Texas:

Town of Flower Mound

City of Keller

City of Friendswood

Town of Little Elm

City of Allen

City of Missouri City

City of The Colony

City of Coppell

City of Leander

City of Rowlett

This Dallas suburb may be best known as a great place for sports because of its Five Star Athletic Complex, but it is also a great place to raise a family, with one of the lowest crime rates in Texas.

In 2012, The Colony had just 1,250 property crimes and 100 violent crimes, for a total of just 1,550 crimes per 100,000 people. These included no murders, 16 rapes, 24 robberies, 60 assaults, 301 burglaries, 1,031 thefts, and 118 vehicle thefts.

All told, residents had a one in 65 chance of being the victim of a crime, which isn’t quite as low as it is in, say, Flower Mound; but compared to Weslaco where residents’ chances are just one in 12, the people of The Colony should be feeling pretty safe.

The Colony moved up three positions in D Magazines Top Suburbs list and is currently 22nd of 63 suburbs included. Again, this proves that The Colony is on the move and is a great place to live and work.

All it takes is a drive down State Highway 121 to see business is booming in The Colony. With construction moving along at TopGolf, Nebraska Furniture Mart, and the Grandscape development, the City by the Lake is quickly becoming a true destination location.

The editors at CNN’s Money Magazine would seem to agree, ranking The Colony at No. 20 among the 50 “Best Places to Live” in the nation among small towns. The Colony is the highest-ranked city in Texas on the list, which was released on Monday. Last year the city was ranked No. 68.

According to Money’s website, “America’s top 50 small towns are not only thriving economically, they’ve also got all you could want in a place to raise a family: plenty of green space, good schools, and a strong sense of community.”

While new developments certainly attract attention, The Colony’s green space and lakeside activities have long been among its primary amenities and were key factors in the city earning a high ranking on the magazine’s annual list.

“Such a prominent ranking among the nation’s best places to live confirms what we here in The Colony already knew, which is that our community offers an excellent quality of life that will only get better as we continue to grow,” Mayor Joe McCourry said.

The Colony also ranked No. 10 on Money’s list of “Where Homes are Affordable.” With a median home price of $135,863, the city “enjoys a wealth of housing options, from one-bedroom apartments to lakeside mansions. Whatever the choice, it’s bound to be reasonably priced,” according to Money’s website.

Reflecting on the city’s significant jump in the standings, The Colony Economic Development Director Keri Samford said this is an exciting time to be a part of the community’s growth.

“We have made tremendous strides as a city and this recognition is a testament to all the great things that have been going on here in The Colony,” she said.